Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
October 27, 2014 - Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL)

BASEBALL

New York-Penn League: The new short-season Class-A NYPL team in Morgantown (WV) will be called the West Virginia Black Bears when the team starts play in its new stadium on the campus of West Virginia University next spring. The Jamestown (NY) Jammers team, which joined the league for the 1994 season with the relocation of the Niagara Falls Rapids, will be the NYPL team relocating to Morgantown. The league's Batavia (NY) Muckdogs team has been up for sale over the past few seasons and will most likely move to a larger market when a sale is completed.

South Atlantic League (SALLY): The group (Hardball Capital) trying to bring an affiliated low Class-A SALLY team to Columbia (SC) has received approval from Minor League Baseball and Major League Baseball to move a team to Columbia. A new ballpark will be built for the team and it is expected to be ready for the 2016 season. It is uncertain which team will be moving to Columbia, but Hardball Capital owns the league's Savannah Sand Gnats and that team is considered to be a relocation candidate if it does not agree to build a new ballpark in Savannah. A team from the high Class-A Carolina League could also be under consideration for a move to Columbia. A final decision will be made next spring when the ownership announces the name of the new Columbia team.

American Association: The independent AA is reported to be trying to build a baseball stadium in Brownsville (TX) for an expansion team. The independent United League Baseball had been trying to add a Brownsville-based team over the past few years. In 2007 and 2008, there were proposed plans for a stadium to be built for a ULB team called the Brownsville Charros, but the project died after a dispute between the developer and the city over stadium financing. The ULB operated a team called the Brownsville Charros in the 2014 season, but that team was basically a travel team that played some home games in Harlingen (TX). The AA is also said to be considering a new team for New Braunfels (TX) in the northeast suburbs of San Antonio.

Prospect League: The new Kokomo (IN) team in the summer-collegiate Prospect League will be called the Kokomo Jackrabbits when its starts play next summer.

BASKETBALL

Universal Basketball Association: The men's UBA announced it will have a team called the Indianapolis Gamblers as part of its Eastern Conference for the upcoming 2014-15 season. Last season's five-team Eastern Conference had one team in Indiana, one team in Ohio and three teams in Kentucky.

American Professional Basketball League: The 17-team APBL has started its 2014-15 season with a Northern Conference that includes a five-team Atlantic Division and a four-team Eastern Division, and a Southern Conference with four-team Patriot and Colonial divisions. New teams include the D.C. Drew All Stars, Long Island United and Hudson Valley Hype (New Paltz, NY). The league's New York City Jaguars were renamed the Black Eagles and the South Jersey Thunder is now the New Jersey Thunder. The Hudson Valley Hype was part of the Eastern Basketball Alliance for two seasons (2009-11).

Tobacco Road Basketball League: The TRBL announced the team called the Triangle RunNGun will play as a travel team in the 2014-15 season. The team is based in the Research Triangle Park (RTP), which is near Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill in North Carolina. The Triangle RunNGun is currently scheduled for ten road games.

Florida Basketball Association: The spring-summer FBA announced one of its founding teams called the Tampa Bay Rebels has left the league. The FBA started play in 2012 and operated with five teams in 2014.

FOOTBALL

National Football League: The Los Angeles city council granted Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) an additional six months to find a team for its proposed downtown NFL stadium AEG signed a two-year deal in 2012 to build a stadium next to the downtown Los Angeles convention center, but it was conditioned on AEG obtaining an NFL team to occupy the stadium. Los Angeles has been without an NFL team since the Raiders returned to Oakland and the Rams moved to St. Louis after the 1994 season. The Raiders, Rams, San Diego Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars have been mentioned as possible NFL relocation candidates.

Continental Indoor Football League: The CIFL started its 2014 season with 10 teams, but it looks as though the league will not operate in 2015. Six teams called the Detroit Thunder, Port Huron Patriots, Bluegrass Warhorse (Lexington, KY), Dayton Sharks, Kentucky Xtreme (Louisville) and Northern Kentucky River Monsters (Highland Heights) appear to have folded, while four teams announced plans to join other leagues. The Chicago Blitz and Saginaw Sting joined American Indoor Football, the Erie (PA) Explosion joined the Professional Indoor Football League and the Marion (OH) Blue Racers joined the X-League Indoor Football. The CIFL started play as the Great Lakes Indoor Football League in 2006.

HOCKEY

Southern Professional Hockey League: The A-level SPHL started its 2014-15 season this weekend with eight teams aligned in one table. The league had ten teams last season, but the Bloomington (IL) Thunder and Mississippi Surge (Biloxi) did not return. A new team called the Macon (GA) Mayhem plans to join the SPHL for the 2015-16 season and the league hopes to have a new team in Biloxi for next season.

Federal Hockey League: After playing one road game of its 2014-15 schedule, the FHL's expansion team called the SouthWest Pennsylvania Magic (Belle Vernon) has been dropped by the league. The league has accepted an application from a new team called the Steel City Warriors that will replace the Magic at the Rostraver Ice Garden in Belle Vernon (PA). The Warriors plan to take over the Magic's original schedule starting on November 8, 2014.

Professional Inline Hockey Association: The PIHA started its 2014-15 season last month with the "Pros" level consisting of a six-team Atlantic Division and a five-team Rocky Mountain Division. The PIHA "Semipro" level has a 13-team Atlantic Division and a 9-team Rocky Mountain Division. The PIHA started play in 2002 and features four skaters and a goalie per team with no checking or fighting.

SOCCER

Major Arena Soccer League: The new 23-team MASL, which was created through a merger of teams from the Major Indoor Soccer League and Professional Arena Soccer League after the 2013-14 season, started its inaugural 2014-15 season this weekend. The league consists of 15 of the 20 teams from last season's PASL, 6 of the 7 teams from last season's MISL, plus 2 expansion teams called the Brownsville Barracudas and Seattle Impact. One of the 15 PASL teams called the Texas Strikers (Beaumont) was sold and renamed the Oxford City FC of Texas. The MASL teams are aligned into a five-team Eastern Division and three six-team Central, Southern and Pacific divisions.

Women's Premier Soccer League: The club that operated the women's AC Seattle team in the 2014 WPSL has become part of the new Italian-influenced FC Tacoma (Federazione Calcio Tacoma). The FC Tacoma plans to move the women's FC Tacoma team to the United Soccer Leagues W-League and start an FC Tacoma men's team in the National Premier Soccer League for the 2015 season.

Major League Soccer: The Sacramento group trying to obtain an MLS expansion team for the city will visit MLS officials next week with an update on plans for a new downtown soccer-specific stadium that would be built for an MLS team. The group includes the owners of the Sacramento Republic FC in the United Soccer Leagues PRO league that wants to move the team up to the MLS. Sacramento is in competition for an MLS expansion team with two groups in Minneapolis-St. Paul, along with efforts in San Antonio and Las Vegas.

OTHER

National Lacrosse League: The indoor NLL's Toronto Rock and Rochester Knighthawks will play a 2015 pre-season exhibition game in Montreal on December 14, 2014. The two teams played an exhibition game in Montreal two years ago. The league is hoping exhibition games like this will help generate interest for a Montreal-based NLL franchise. The league had a 2002 team called the Montreal Express, which was the relocated Columbus (OH) Landsharks franchise, but the Express lasted only one season before shutting down.

American National Rugby League: It looks as if the AMNRL will fold and leave the USA Rugby League as the top level of the rugby league style played in the United States. The AMNRL did not hold any competitions in 2014 and will not be applying for full membership to the Rugby League International Federation, which is the governing body of the rugby league style. The AMRNL got its start in 1998 and played its most recent season in 2013 with seven eastern teams located in Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut and Virginia.

Dan Krieger is the creator of the Leagues, Teams & Nicknames 2013-14: "The Leagueology Almanac" , which tracks the changes in league alignments, franchise movements and team nicknames in today's sports world. The publication is currently available at www.amazon.com.

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